Frozen cream sauce

Abstract

To provide a frozen cream source that is less prone to quality deterioration caused by freezing and thawing and has a thick body and flavor typical of yolk.SOLUTION: A frozen cream source contains enzyme-treated yolk of 0.2-2 mass% and emulsifier of 0.02-1 mass%. The enzyme-treated yolk is preferably the yolk enzyme-treated with protease and / or phospholipase. The emulsifier preferably contains glycerol fatty acid ester.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to frozen cream-based sauces containing enzyme-treated egg yolks. [Background technology]

[0002] Cream-based sauces are generally produced by moderately heating ingredients containing dairy ingredients such as milk. Typical cream-based sauces include béchamel sauce, which is based on flour, butter, and milk, and béchamel sauce with added cream. Cream-based sauces are popular due to their rich flavor and smooth texture, which are characteristic of dairy products. It is also known that adding egg yolk to cream-based sauces can improve their richness and smoothness, and carbonara sauce is a typical example of such an egg yolk-containing cream-based sauce. However, egg yolks have a distinctive sweet, sulfur-like flavor, which is often avoided due to their distinctive flavor. In other words, adding egg yolk to a cream-based sauce in order to achieve richness and smoothness can add an unnecessary sweetness and sulfurous odor to the sauce's flavor, resulting in the desired cream-based sauce flavor not being achieved.

[0003] Furthermore, fresh cream is an ingredient that is easily degraded by sudden temperature changes and requires careful control of heat during cooking. Therefore, if a cream-based sauce containing fresh cream is stored in the refrigerator or freezer, moisture and oil may separate or solidify during storage. Therefore, cream-based sauces containing fresh cream require special care during cooking and storage; neglecting this can easily cause the sauce to become grainy, and may even reduce the richness and creaminess of the sauce.

[0004] Patent Document 1 describes that by adding phospholipase A-treated egg yolk to an oil-in-water emulsified pasta sauce, it is possible to achieve effects such as imparting a rich flavor to the sauce, maintaining the emulsified state of the sauce for a long period of time, and maintaining the smooth texture of the sauce. Patent Document 2 describes that by adding an egg product in which egg yolk is enzymatically treated with phospholipase A2 and protease to an oil-in-water emulsified food such as mayonnaise or dressing, the heat resistance of the oil-in-water emulsified food is improved. Patent Documents 1 and 2 do not describe the problem of quality deterioration associated with freezing and thawing of cream-based sauces, as mentioned above. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-215539 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-233334 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a frozen cream sauce that is freezing-thawing-resistant to deterioration in quality and has a rich, full-bodied flavor. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present inventors discovered that, although even a trace amount of egg yolk can give a cream-based sauce a distinct egg yolk flavor, combining specific amounts of enzyme-treated egg yolk and an emulsifier can impart richness without the distinct egg yolk flavor and further suppress the occurrence of graininess that occurs during freezing and thawing, leading to the completion of the present invention. Specifically, the present invention is a frozen cream-based sauce containing 0.2 to 2% by mass of enzyme-treated egg yolk and 0.02 to 1% by mass of an emulsifier. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, a frozen cream sauce having a rich body and flavor is provided, in which deterioration in quality due to freezing and thawing, for example, deterioration in texture such as smoothness on the tongue, is suppressed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The frozen cream-based sauce of the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as "the frozen sauce of the present invention") is a frozen cream-based sauce. When eating the frozen sauce of the present invention, it is usually thawed to become a liquid that has flowability at room temperature and normal pressure before eating. In the present invention, "cream-based sauce" refers to a liquid food product that is produced using dairy ingredients and / or soy milk and remains emulsified at room temperature and normal pressure. The "dairy ingredients" referred to here broadly encompass milk or food ingredients made from dairy, such as cow's milk, goat's milk, cream, butter, cheese, whole milk powder, skim milk powder, and cream powder.

[0010] Specific examples of cream-based sauces that can be used in the frozen sauce of the present invention include white sauce, cream sauce, soy milk sauce, tomato cream sauce based on tomato sauce, and white wine-based wine blanc sauce. Among these, white sauce and white cream sauce are particularly preferred because they are more likely to exhibit the effect of the present invention, which is to have a rich dairy flavor and body. In other words, the frozen sauce of the present invention is preferably a white sauce or a cream sauce. Furthermore, the cream-based sauces that can be used in the frozen sauce of the present invention do not include carbonara sauce, which is typically enjoyed because egg yolk is an essential ingredient.

[0011] The frozen sauce of the present invention contains enzyme-treated egg yolk. In the present invention, "enzyme-treated egg yolk" refers to egg yolk that has been treated with an enzyme. The enzyme treatment is typically carried out by allowing an enzyme to act on the egg yolk in the presence of water. By treating the egg yolk with an enzyme, components inherently contained in the egg yolk, such as proteins and lipids, are decomposed, making it possible to suppress thermal coagulation and denaturation. The enzyme-treated egg yolk used in the present invention is sufficient as long as it has been subjected to at least an enzyme treatment, and may also be subjected to treatments other than the enzyme treatment, such as sterilization, salting, sugaring, or freezing.

[0012] The egg yolk used as a raw material for the enzyme-treated egg yolk used in the present invention (egg yolk to be subjected to enzyme treatment) is not particularly limited, and may be a raw egg yolk that has not been subjected to any treatment, or a processed egg yolk that has been subjected to some kind of treatment, such as a pasteurized egg yolk, a salted egg yolk, or a sweetened egg yolk.

[0013] The enzymes used in the production of the enzyme-treated egg yolk used in the present invention are not particularly limited as long as they are applicable to food products. Furthermore, the enzyme-treated egg yolk used in the present invention may be produced using one type of enzyme or multiple types of enzymes. Specific examples of the enzyme include proteases, which are protein-degrading enzymes, and phospholipases, which are phospholipid-degrading enzymes. That is, the enzyme-treated egg yolk used in the present invention may be egg yolk enzymatically treated with proteases and / or phospholipases. Enzyme-treated egg yolk treated with both proteases and phospholipases is particularly preferred because it further enhances the effects of the present invention. Examples of the protease include neutral proteases, alkaline proteases, acidic proteases, serine proteases, cysteine ​​proteases, metalloproteases, and aspartic acid proteases. Among these proteases, trypsin, chymotrypsin, papain, pepsin, bromelain, and pancreatin are particularly preferred. Examples of the phospholipase include phospholipase A1, phospholipase A2, and enzymes having equivalent activities to these.

[0014] The method for producing the enzyme-treated egg yolk used in the present invention (enzyme treatment method) is not particularly limited. For example, the egg yolk may be extracted from commercially available eggs and treated with an enzyme by adding a commercially available enzyme preparation to the egg yolk according to a conventional method. In the present invention, commercially available enzyme-treated egg yolk can also be used as is.

[0015] In the present invention, frozen enzyme-treated egg yolk can also be used as the enzyme-treated egg yolk, thereby improving the shelf life of the frozen sauce. The "frozen enzyme-treated egg yolk" is egg yolk that has been enzyme-treated and then frozen. Such freezing can be carried out in a conventional manner and is not particularly limited. Furthermore, when frozen enzyme-treated egg yolk is used in the frozen sauce of the present invention, it is usually not used in the frozen state but is thawed before use, and this thawing can also be carried out in a conventional manner and is not particularly limited.

[0016] The content of enzyme-treated egg yolk in the frozen sauce of the present invention is 0.2 to 2% by mass, preferably 0.3 to 1.5% by mass, and more preferably 0.4 to 1% by mass, based on the amount of egg yolk, relative to the total mass of the sauce. If the content of enzyme-treated egg yolk in the frozen sauce is less than 0.2% by mass, the richness and flavor may be insufficient, while if it exceeds 2% by mass, the flavor of the egg yolk may come out, which may affect the quality of the cream sauce, and the bitterness of the enzyme-treated egg yolk may reduce the richness, and further the effect of preventing roughness may be insufficient.

[0017] The "content of enzyme-treated egg yolk based on the egg yolk amount" refers to the content of enzyme-treated egg yolk in the sauce converted into the amount of egg yolk contained in the enzyme-treated egg yolk. In other words, since the enzyme-treated egg yolk contains components other than egg yolk, such as enzymes, when calculating the content of enzyme-treated egg yolk in the sauce in the present invention, the content of enzyme-treated egg yolk based on the egg yolk amount is calculated using the "mass of egg yolk" calculated by excluding these other components from the enzyme-treated egg yolk. In the present invention, when salted egg yolk is included in the raw material for the enzyme-treated egg yolk, the salt contained in the salted egg yolk is also excluded from the enzyme-treated egg yolk when calculating the content of the enzyme-treated egg yolk in the sauce, just as with the enzyme. That is, the "content of enzyme-treated egg yolk based on the egg yolk amount" is calculated excluding the salt derived from the salted egg yolk.

[0018] The frozen sauce of the present invention contains an emulsifier in addition to the enzyme-treated egg yolk. Any emulsifier that can be used in foods can be used without particular limitation, including, for example, glycerin fatty acid esters, propylene glycol fatty acid esters, sorbitan fatty acid esters, sucrose fatty acid esters, saponin, and lecithin. These can be used alone or in combination of two or more. Glycerin fatty acid esters and sucrose fatty acid esters are particularly preferred as emulsifiers used in the present invention, with glycerin fatty acid esters being particularly preferred.

[0019] Many food ingredients have emulsifying properties. For example, some starches and proteins have emulsifying properties. The egg yolk used in the present invention contains lecithin and proteins and is known to have emulsifying properties, and mayonnaise is a food product made by emulsifying water and oil using the emulsifying properties of egg yolk. Furthermore, the technologies described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 focus on the emulsifying properties of enzyme-treated egg yolk. While technologies that focus on the emulsifying properties of egg yolk are well known, the technical concept of the present invention, which prevents quality deterioration of frozen cream-based sauces due to freezing and thawing by combining enzyme-treated egg yolk with a specific emulsifier (such as a glycerin fatty acid ester), is novel.

[0020] The content of the emulsifier in the frozen sauce of the present invention is 0.02 to 1% by mass, preferably 0.04 to 0.5% by mass, and more preferably 0.06 to 0.2% by mass, based on the total mass of the sauce. If the content of the emulsifier in the sauce is less than 0.02% by mass, the effect of preventing graininess may be insufficient, and if it exceeds 1% by mass, the bitterness of the emulsifier may reduce the richness.

[0021] In addition to the enzyme-treated egg yolk and emulsifier described above, various ingredients commonly used in the production of cream sauces can be used in the frozen sauce of the present invention without any particular restrictions. Examples of ingredients include dairy products such as raw milk and cream, soy milk, cereal flours such as wheat flour, starches, oils and fats, sugars, seasonings, colorings, etc., and can be appropriately selected and used depending on the type of cream sauce used in the frozen sauce.

[0022] The frozen sauce of the present invention may contain egg yolk other than enzyme-treated egg yolk, for example, raw egg yolk or processed egg yolk that has been subjected to a process other than enzyme treatment. However, this may add a sweetness or sulfurous odor specific to egg yolk to the cream-based sauce, potentially resulting in quality problems. Therefore, it is preferable that the content of egg yolk other than enzyme-treated egg yolk in the frozen sauce of the present invention be as small as possible, for example, 2% by mass or less relative to the total mass of the sauce. One of the most preferred forms of the frozen sauce of the present invention is one that contains only enzyme-treated egg yolk as egg yolk. A preferred form of the frozen sauce of the present invention is not an egg yolk-containing cream-based sauce that contains a certain amount or more of egg yolk (for example, 30% by mass or more relative to the total mass of the sauce), such as a typical carbonara sauce.

[0023] The frozen sauce of the present invention is produced by producing a cream-based sauce and freezing the sauce. The production method and freezing method for a cream-based sauce are not particularly limited, and conventionally known methods can be used. A typical production method for the cream-based sauce used in the present invention includes the steps of first producing a cream-based sauce and then adding an enzyme-treated egg yolk and an emulsifier to the sauce. An example of a method for producing the frozen sauce of the present invention is the following method. First, wheat flour is fried in butter, and milk and fresh cream are added to spread the mixture, followed by heating to produce a cream sauce. Next, the enzyme-treated egg yolk and emulsifier are added to the cream sauce to achieve the aforementioned contents, and the mixture is thoroughly stirred to obtain a cream-based sauce. The cream-based sauce thus obtained is then frozen to obtain the frozen sauce of the present invention.

[0024] The frozen sauce of the present invention may contain solid ingredients (food ingredients that are solid at room temperature and normal pressure). Examples of solid ingredients include meat, seafood, vegetables, mushrooms, etc., and these can be used alone or in combination of two or more. From the perspective of obtaining a texture that is characteristic of solid ingredients, it is preferable that the minimum diameter of the solid ingredients is 5 mm or more. When the sauce contains solid ingredients, the "content of enzyme-treated egg yolk based on egg yolk amount" is calculated by excluding the mass of the solid ingredients from the mass of the sauce.

[0025] Since the frozen sauce of the present invention is a frozen product, it can be stored in a frozen state for a long period of time. The frozen sauce of the present invention can be used for all foods that use cream-based sauces. For example, it can be applied to stews, hamburgers, pasta dishes such as spaghetti gratin, and the like. Typically, the frozen sauce of the present invention is thawed to become a liquid that has flowability at room temperature and normal pressure, and then used by pouring it over other foods (hamburgers, pasta, etc.) or mixing it with other foods. The method of thawing the frozen sauce of the present invention is not particularly limited, and it may be thawed naturally or by heating using a heating cooker such as a microwave oven. [Example]

[0026] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

[0027] [Examples 1 to 18 and Comparative Examples 1 to 8: Production of frozen cream-based sauces] White sauce, a type of cream-based sauce, was produced using the sauce ingredients listed in Tables 1 to 3 below, and each serving (80 g) of the sauce was individually filled into a heat-resistant container and sealed. The container was then placed in a freezer with an internal temperature of -20°C to freeze the sauce, thereby producing the desired frozen cream-based sauce. The cream-based sauce was produced by first producing a white sauce as a base sauce, then adding the sauce ingredients other than the base sauce listed in Tables 1 to 3 to the white sauce, and heating the sauce for 5 minutes without boiling. The base sauce (white sauce) was produced as follows: First, 20 parts by mass of butter was placed in a thick-bottomed pot and heated to melt, and then 20 parts by mass of wheat flour was added and heated while stirring to prevent burning. Next, 200 parts by mass of milk was added little by little, and the mixture was heated over medium heat with slow stirring until thickened. Finally, salt and pepper were added to taste, and a white sauce was obtained as a base sauce.

[0028] The egg yolks used in the preparation of the frozen cream sauce are as follows: Phospholipase-treated egg yolk (egg yolk content: approximately 80% by mass) Protease-treated egg yolk (egg yolk content: approximately 80% by mass) Phospholipase-treated + protease-treated egg yolk (egg yolk content approximately 80% by mass) Raw egg yolk: Egg whites removed from commercially available eggs. Egg yolk content: 100% by mass.

[0029] [Test example] The frozen cream-based sauces of each Example and Comparative Example were stored at -20°C for one week and then thawed by heating in a microwave oven at 500W for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The thawed cream-based sauces were eaten by 10 expert panelists, who evaluated the texture and flavor of the sauces according to the following evaluation criteria. The results (arithmetic mean values ​​of the 10 panelists' evaluation scores) are shown in Tables 1 to 3 below.

[0030] <Texture evaluation criteria> 5 points: The sauce is uniform and smooth throughout, very good. 4 points: The sauce is slightly grainy in some areas, but is generally smooth and good. 3 points: The sauce feels grainy in parts. 2 points: The sauce is rough overall and poor quality. 1 point: The sauce is rough overall, with some separation or clumping, and is very poor quality. <Flavor evaluation criteria> 5 points: Very rich and full-bodied, very good. 4 points: Rich and full-bodied, good. 3 points: The flavor is a little lacking. 2 points: Not rich enough, the flavor of egg yolk can be detected, poor quality. 1 point: No richness, taste of egg yolk, very poor.

[0031] [Table 1]

[0032] As shown in Table 1, the frozen cream-based sauces of each Example contained enzyme-treated egg yolk, and therefore had superior texture and flavor after thawing compared to the frozen cream-based sauces of each Comparative Example, which did not meet this requirement. Among Examples 1 to 3, Example 3 received the highest evaluation, indicating that egg yolk treated with both protease and phospholipase is preferable as the enzyme-treated egg yolk.Furthermore, among Examples 3 to 6, Examples 3 and 6 received the highest evaluation, indicating that glycerin fatty acid ester is preferable as the emulsifier.

[0033] [Table 2]

[0034] As shown in Table 2, the frozen cream-based sauces of each Example had an enzyme-treated egg yolk content in the range of 0.2 to 2% by mass, and therefore had superior texture and flavor after thawing compared to the frozen cream-based sauces of each Comparative Example that did not meet this requirement.

[0035] [Table 3]

[0036] As shown in Table 3, the frozen cream-based sauces of each Example had an emulsifier content in the range of 0.02 to 1% by mass, and therefore had superior texture and flavor after thawing compared to the frozen cream-based sauces of each Comparative Example that did not meet this requirement.

Claims

1. The frozen cream sauce contains 0.2 to 2% by mass of enzyme-treated egg yolk and 0.02 to 1% by mass of an emulsifier, and does not contain any egg yolk other than the enzyme-treated egg yolk.

2. 2. The frozen cream-based sauce according to claim 1, wherein the enzyme-treated egg yolk is obtained by enzymatically treating egg yolk with protease and / or phospholipase.

3. 3. The frozen cream-based sauce according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the emulsifier comprises a glycerin fatty acid ester.

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